While waiting for the list of credentials to arrive at the meeting point for the XVI Desfile Internacional da Máscara Ibérica in Lisboa, and after having a great breakfast in the form of Bifana no Pão at Beira Gare, I walked around in the area where the event was going to take place. Camera in my hand, set to aperture priority. My idea was to practice the art of street photography as a warming up for the event.
There were bound to be a lot of people on the streets, considering it was a Saturday, there was an event going on and the last days of sunny September have to be enjoyed. I was pleasantly surprised by colorful, musical and crowd filled streets! Only the next day, I learned that September 21 was the International Day of Peace. So much for being in touch…
I don’t visit Lisbon often these days and as a result, the changes it is going through really jump at me. So many little restaurants have closed for ever, shops have been replaced, more fast-food then ever before, and I honestly would not be surprised if within the next ten years or so, the typical Portuguese street food will have all but disappeared and Lisbon will look much like Bombay.
Understand me well; I have nothing against people from other places – after all, I come from another place – but how many souvenir shops ran by people from India can exist without pushing original businesses aside? And it is rather strange to walk into a typical Portuguese shop that offers a wide range of typical Portuguese sweets and snacks and discover that you have to order in English because the people behind the counter have close to zero knowledge of the local language.
Anyway, after a quick visit to the busy Rua Augusta, using the network of smaller side-streets I wandered towards Praça do Comércio – or Terreiro do Paço as it was called until the big earthquake in 1755, many people still call it by its old name – and suddenly, I heard music!
As it turned out, I stepped into an event organized by the Museu de Lisboa – Location Santo Antonio: Caminhada pela Paz (walk for peace). All groups involved in this event have as common element that they have their roots in the Afro-Brazilian cultures.
Batucadas do Santo
Drumming is an important part of the worship of the Orixás. In Afro-Brazilian mythology, Santo António opens the doors to an incursion into the rituals of Afro-Brazilian spiritual culture, in which music and percussion occupy a primordial place. The sound of the batucada calls for dance and mysticism to please and evoke divinities, and is an invitation to expand the horizons of devotion.
Orixás (in English: Orishas) are divine spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Haitian Vaudou, Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé.
Ilê Axé Oju Onirê
Founded twenty-six years ago, Ilê Axé Ojú Onirê is a religious organization with its headquarter in Santo Amaro in Brazil, lead by José Raimundo Lima Chaves, known as Pai Pote. Its religion is Candomblé, an African diasporic religion, developed among Afro-Brazilian communities amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries. It arose through the blending of the traditional religions brought to Brazil by enslaved West and Central Africans, the majority of them Yoruba, Fon, and Bantu, with the Roman Catholicism of the Portuguese colonialists who then controlled the area. It primarily coalesced in the Bahia region during the 19th century.
There is no central authority in control of Candomblé, which is organized around autonomous terreiros (houses). The religion is divided into denominations, known as nations, based on which traditional African belief system has been its primary influence.
Most prominent are the Ketu, Jeje, and Angola. There are supposed to be around 170,000 practitioners in Brazil, and smaller communities exist elsewhere, especially other parts of South America and countries that house Brazilian emigrants.
Candomblé assumes the existence of a supreme divinity called Olorun or Olodumaré, who is regarded as the creator of everything but is thought distant and unapproachable, and thus not specifically worshipped.
The religion evolves around spirits, termed orixás (orishas) or santos (saints), who are believed to mediate between humanity and Olorun. Orixás have been varyingly conceived as ancestral figures, or embodiments of forces of nature. They are deemed morally ambiguous, each with their own virtues and flaws, and are sometimes in conflict with each other. Each orixá is associated with specific colours, foods, animals, and minerals, favoring certain offerings.
For more information about this melting pot of religious ideas, see the extensive Wikipedia page.
Abadá Capoeira
Capoeira first appeared among Africans in Brazil, during the early colonial period. According to the old capoeira mestres and tradition within the community, capoeira originates from Angola. Although the origin of capoeira is not entirely clear, many studies have supported the oral tradition, identifying n’golo as an ancestral art and locating the Cunene region as its birthplace. Although authors believe there were more ancestors beside n’golo, the core of capoeira consists of techniques developed in n´golo.
Music is an integral part of capoeira. It sets the tempo and style of game that is to be played. Typically, the music is formed by instruments and singing. Rhythms (toques), controlled by a typical instrument called berimbau, differ from very slow to very fast, depending on the style of the roda.
The berimbau is the leading instrument, determining the tempo and style of the music and game played. Two low-pitch berimbaus (called berra-boi and médio) form the base and a high-pitch berimbau (called viola) makes variations and improvisations. The other instruments must follow the berimbau’s rhythm, free to vary and improvise a little, depending upon the capoeira group’s musical style.
As the capoeiristas change their playing style significantly following the toque of the berimbau, which sets the game’s speed, style and aggressiveness, it is truly the music that drives a capoeira game.
ABADÁ capoeira has a graduated cord system using colors that refer symbolically to nature and reflect the level of practice. The cord system does not so much reflect the practitioner’s level of skill as much as their progress on their individual path as a member of the ABADÁ community. See the cord system on Wikipedia.
After all that jazz, I was back at the Praça do Comércio, to pick up my pass, shake some hands and wait for the Desfile to start.
